We're looking for an organized and efficient campaign director or team to develop, oversee, and edit a live-action docu-style campaign that will tell the stories of 6 different Walden University graduates. If chosen, you'll need to supervise multiple filmmakers, each documenting the stories of different graduates (and working with their own production budgets), while handling all post-production and content delivery for the campaign, and you may have the opportunity to film one graduate's story yourself as well.
Walden University, an Adtalem Global Education institution, is an online university that supports a diverse community of adult learners who seek to achieve their academic goals and make positive, lasting social change in their professions and communities.
Walden University wants to bring the voices of its alumni forward to help tell the Walden story. As part of a new campaign entitled, "Set a Course for Change," we'll be filming 6 different Walden graduates who've gone into the fields of nursing, social work, counseling, and education as they tell their stories, and can talk about how Walden and their degree has provided them with the educational credentials, confidence, and skills to reach their leadership potential to improve their communities. The graduates live all over the United States, and each will be filmed within the same production window, so we'll need multiple production teams, but we still need to ensure that all of the content feels coherent and consistent with the larger campaign objectives.
The objective of this project is not about handling physical production. Instead, Adtalem is looking for one dedicated and extremely organized team to oversee all of the creative, while supervising a number of remote productions, and then managing post-production for all of the different graduates involved. This team would work with multiple other filmmakers across the United States, and direct the campaign from a high level, as a centralized hub, ultimately creating a different suite or content for each of the graduates, with the possibility that more graduates might be added to the scope at a later date.
It's important to note that the campaign director will not be responsible for any physical production, and you are not expected to be physically present on set for any of the shoots. That said, we will be running a separate project (with a separate budget) to source the satellite directors, and if you're able and willing, you're certainly welcome to participate and pitch on that project as well.
In terms of the creative, we'll be producing docu-style / testimonial videos talking about how Walden's specific programs provided the graduates with the skills and experiences they needed to make a change in themselves and their communities, and we'll also produce videos that take a more generalized look at their story, and show how Walden University has changed their lives. Although there are some established campaign guidelines, the campaign direction team that we're looking for will need to develop a more specific executional approach and curate it for each individual's story, and then create storyboards and shot lists to ensure we're capturing key elements. We expect that each graduate's story will ultimately be filmed with a small docu-style crew, using a limited number of locations (or perhaps even a studio), and there's the possibility that we'll be able to include some archival footage or photography, but we can't guarantee what that would be at this stage, and it might vary from graduate to graduate.
In addition to the longer hero videos, you will also be required to create a series of cutdowns, as well as bespoke social cuts. It's important that the social cuts feel social-first, as opposed to just shorter cutdowns.
Beyond that, the campaign director will be responsible for:
In your pitch, please tell us more about how you or your team would approach this project from the campaign director level, in terms of pre-interviewing talent, staying organized and overseeing satellite directors, and managing a large number of assets in post-production. For any questions or other project updates, check out the Project Forum.
DELIVERABLES: There are 78 total video assets.
EXPECTED TIMELINE: HERE
EXPOSURE: We expect content will be used on the platforms below, but if casting talent, be sure they review our required Talent Release before they're cast, as it is NOT limited to these platforms. You should also review our Music providers in the Project Requirements, as well as the platform best practices.
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adults – 25-54, racially and ethnically diverse. They are Career Climbers, they have a specific job in mind and understand the requirement to continue to grow in that career to serve the needs of their diverse client base and make the impact they want to make in the world. They are looking to get the next degree to gain greater confidence and satisfaction in their career and to be taken seriously.
TONE: Encouraging, optimistic, determined, and approachable. The sentiment of “let’s do this.”
EXECUTIONAL MANDATORIES:
By participating in this project, creators acknowledge that the Sponsor is under no obligation to greenlight a submission. Though most projects on our platform do move forward, we will notify you in the event the Sponsor decides not to fund any submissions via the project forum. Regardless of the result, all submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by the Sponsor and the project team.
THE SIX GRADUATES: These will be sourced by Adtalem, and their locations and stories are still TBD, but we know that they'll be broken down in three categories, as below.
All Walden content and creative should stem from the Set a Course for Change brand platform. See this deck for a platform overview. The new platform launched in April ’23 and has been successful in turning the business around for positive growth.
In order to be considered, include the below materials in your submission. For examples of effective pitches, check out this gallery. All Pitches remain private, even after a Pitch is selected, and Tongal strives to have Pitch selections made by the end of the Evaluation period, but additional time may be required by the Sponsor, depending on any number of factors.
The most compelling pitch will be greenlit by the Sponsor, and the responsible creator will then receive an email from Tongal producers detailing next steps. All submitters will also receive an automated email notification that a selection has been announced. To ensure you’re receiving project updates, review your email settings to check that you haven’t unsubscribed.
Creators who’ve been selected will receive funding upon completing the Winner Affidavit and the IP Assignment. Payment of the pitch funds is subject to a payment schedule determined by Tongal, typically included with the project timeline.
PRE-PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS: Prior to the commencement of actual production, creators MUST receive final approval from the Sponsor on the elements below. There may be multiple rounds of feedback until an element is approved.
If you begin production before you have received final approval, you may need to reshoot or reanimate at your own expense.
PRE-PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS: Prior to shooting, filmmakers must receive the below approvals from the Sponsor. You will also be required to develop physical production guidelines and technical directives for the satellite production teams, but that will not fall under the purview of Adtalem.
For convenience, we've provided some helpful templates that you can consider using for pre-production materials, and they can all be accessed here.
BUILDING YOUR TEAM: Looking for help? Post crew and production opportunities connected to Tongal projects on Backlot. Backlot includes search tools to help you find collaborators and crew by role, skill set, location, and more, for productions of any size and type. Tongal also supports inclusivity in all productions, and strongly encourages you to hire diverse talent for your team. To find additional options for staff & crew in your area, check out these resources and partners.
REVISION REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: Once Content has been submitted and the initial Production Phase completed, greenlit creators will enter into Revisions. Creators will perform reasonable edits on their videos according to the Sponsor's feedback. Check out our Filmmaker Resource Portal to access helpful post-production resources like Text-Safe Guides for different platforms, Project File Organization Tutorial, Export Presets, and Captioning services.
MUSIC: If you use music from a library for your content, you MUST use one of Tongal's three music providers: Jingle Punks, Universal Production Music and Epidemic Sound. Music from these providers is available to registered Tongal members at no charge solely for their incorporation into submissions to this project, and will not require a Music Release Form. To learn more, click on any of the providers' names above.
If you choose to use original music, you must fill out and submit our Music Release Form. Please ensure your composer reviews and signs this form BEFORE beginning their work.
STOCK FOOTAGE: Tongal has partnered with the stock footage library STORYBLOCKS, which can be used to source video clips, photography, and After Effects templates for your video submission to this project. Video or photo content from Storyblocks is available at no charge, solely for incorporation into submissions on this project, and will not require a separate Release Form. If identifiable people or intellectual property appears in a video clip or photo, you may only utilize assets that are clearly marked “Model released: Yes” or “Property release: Yes” on the clip description pages. You may not use any audio.
If you intend to use Storyblocks, inform your Tongal producer, and an account will be created for you to access the library. Once assets are approved for delivery, you must provide a complete list of all Storyblocks content that you used via our template HERE.
ASSET DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS & RESOURCES: You must also provide all project files, editing sequences and a 1080p .mov master file, using a ProRes, Animation, or Uncompressed Codec in order to submit final payment. You are responsible for any costs associated with the hard drive and shipping. You must also provide all raw files associated with the project.
To ensure a smoother delivery, please review the Export Presets, Specifications, and Project File Organization Tutorial in our Filmmaker Resource Portal.